USMLE Official 2017 Step 1 Experiences and Scores Thread

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WeedForLunch

WeedForLunch

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I know this is quite early but most American Students have finished giving the test for this year.
I am an IMG and have been prepping for the steps since quite some time and have seen Phloston, Transposony's and others' threads for their respective years and how helpful they have been.

I intend on giving step in Jan.. let's share timetables, plans and other stuff on how everyone intends on taking on this beast.

P.S. : I think it is not that early.. the 2015/2016 threads were started in September/October.. but in true SDN gunner style..i wanna start it in August.. :)
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I have been following these threads but never post. I am scheduled to take Step in 2 weeks. I am a bit concerned because I want over a 230+ but my scores are not quite there.

NBME 16 -- 225 83% correct 3 weeks ago
NBME 17 -- 223 85% correct 2 weeks ago
UWSA1 -- 251 77% correct earlier this week

Any advice? Seems like a big gap between my NBME and UWSA scores. In my opinion, NBME 16 and 17 required very little thinking, either you knew the fact or did not, there was nothing to figure out. Is the exam like that or more like Uworld? Or somewhere between the two?

I am taking combined Uworld + NBME18 next week with NBME 19 on Monday the week of my exam.

We have the option to defer our exam until Christmas but that has not seemed to work well for people in the past (hard to study alongside rotations).

Thanks
 
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lmnnnnn09 said:
I have been following these threads but never post. I am scheduled to take Step in 2 weeks. I am a bit concerned because I want over a 230+ but my scores are not quite there.

NBME 16 -- 225 83% correct 3 weeks ago
NBME 17 -- 223 85% correct 2 weeks ago
UWSA1 -- 251 77% correct earlier this week

Any advice? Seems like a big gap between my NBME and UWSA scores. In my opinion, NBME 16 and 17 required very little thinking, either you knew the fact or did not, there was nothing to figure out. Is the exam like that or more like Uworld? Or somewhere between the two?

I am taking combined Uworld + NBME18 next week with NBME 19 on Monday the week of my exam.

We have the option to defer our exam until Christmas but that has not seemed to work well for people in the past (hard to study alongside rotations).

Thanks
Click to expand...
I would keep your current test date. Also IMO the test is a harder version of U-World.
 
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WorldChanger36 said:
My practice test scores were all over the place NBME 17 was a 232, but 19 and 18 were both 211. UWSA were both 218 but i took them before I started dedicated. The exam was fair, there were many I could get down to a 50/50 and just took the plunge. Nothing I was stumped on and it was very heavy on anatomy which I hated but it was my highest section on the score report so meh. I used all of my time down to the last minute left on every block never had a chance to go back and review but didn't feel rushed either, I took my time to answer each question as best I could. I left the test with about 62 questions marked. Its just the test is so different from what you think it is going to be you just have to be ok with have to take a guess and move on. A 220 doesn't end me and with a good step 2 I will be just fine.
Click to expand...


Did you have much biostats or biochem?
 
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Anyone who took the exam mind commenting how similar it felt (difficulty, style, etc) to the free 120?
 
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FindMeOnTheLinks said:
Everything is pretty straightforward on free 120, much much more vague on step 1.
Click to expand...

pathlologist said:
^^^Absolutely this. ~75% of my step questions were super vague.
Click to expand...

Personally mine felt more straight forward than many people make it out to be, but maybe that just means the curve was ridiculous (#basedcurvegods). I guess it depends on your test, but yeah, most people you talk to say it is difficult and vague.
 
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doc-Oc said:
What should one do 2 weeks after they completed uworld and incorrects? 2 weeks before exam.
Click to expand...

If you can, reset uworld and keep doing questions. It doesn't have to be a lot of questions each day but enough to stay on top of your test taking skills. Go through FA one more time, or at least the chapters you feel week on. I'd do a run through parasites, seems people have consistently had a lot of question on parasites recently. Make sure you nail down biostats within the last week. If you have any nbmes left (17, 18, or 18) or UWSA1 or 2 left, you should have time to comfortably do 2, maybe 3.


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A$AP said:
If you had to give 1 major, key reason about what made it that much more difficult, what would that be?
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There are a few major factors. It would be unfair to ignore the difference in magnitude of test significance. Theres no comparison with the stress level of the real exam.
In my opinion, the free 120 has Qs that you probably have seen before. My theory for why the nbmes and free 120 are easier is that the sources we use pay attention to the nbme's content and update their own. But thats just my theory. Step 1 threw so many random Qs at me it was a nightmare
 
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for those that completed kaplan qbank what was your % and howd you do on step 1? anyone care to share?
 
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doc-Oc said:
for those that completed kaplan qbank what was your % and howd you do on step 1? anyone care to share?
Click to expand...

I believe it was around 77%. Scored mid 260's. I did Kaplan by subject alongside my classes so maybe not the best representation.


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Army guy said:
Low 70s towards the last couple weeks of dedicated on 2/3s of Kaplan. edit (low) 250s.
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Wow, Kaplan this close to dedicated. Did you feel it was worth it?
Somehow everyone always mentions UFAP but all those 250+ usually have gone through Kaplan as well!
 
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hbslax4 said:
I believe it was around 77%. Scored mid 260's. I did Kaplan by subject alongside my classes so maybe not the best representation.


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Did you feel it was worth it?
Somehow everyone always mentions UFAP but all those 250+ usually have gone through Kaplan as well!
 
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forums2012 said:
Did you feel it was worth it?
Somehow everyone always mentions UFAP but all those 250+ usually have gone through Kaplan as well!
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought it was good to have questions to use alongside class. The questions maybe were not the most representative of step 1 but they definitely can help prepare you for some of the more bizarre step 1 question. I remember walking out of step 1 and thinking to my myself that I was glad I did Kaplan. At the end of the day, the more questions you can do the better. Kaplan is more questions...


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hbslax4 said:
Yeah I thought it was good to have questions to use alongside class. The questions maybe were not the most representative of step 1 but they definitely can help prepare you for some of the more bizarre step 1 question. I remember walking out of step 1 and thinking to my myself that I was glad I did Kaplan. At the end of the day, the more questions you can do the better. Kaplan is more questions...


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Click to expand...
When you say they weren't representative, what do you mean? As in the questions weren't single step questions straightforward-ish?

How should I use Kaplan? What should be my approach to doing Kaplan. 6 weeks to exam. Finished UFAP 2x
 
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forums2012 said:
When you say they weren't representative, what do you mean? As in the questions weren't single step questions straightforward-ish?

How should I use Kaplan? What should be my approach to doing Kaplan. 6 weeks to exam. Finished UFAP 2x
Click to expand...

I mean the question style and type of details they tested you on were not that similar to the majority of step 1 questions (uworld does a better job representing this). With that said, there were a minority of step 1 questions that felt like Kaplan question.
If you have already gone through uworld twice then you can probably power through Kaplan, or it last a good chunk of Kaplan in the exit 4 weeks. However, in the last 10 days or so I would do more uworld to get you back in the mindset of those type of questions. Also max out on doing the UWSA's and NBME 15-19.


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For those who's taken the exam already,

Just need a hint of advice on time management during exam.
I know that in the real test, we are given a "total" time that counts down (which includes our break times).
How much time in total is break time? 60 minutes?
What's the best way of using the break time?
For example, I heard most ppl do 2 section, 10 min break, 2 section, 10 min break, 2 section, 10 min break then last section (instead of break after every section).
 
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texasholdems said:
For those who's taken the exam already,

Just need a hint of advice on time management during exam.
I know that in the real test, we are given a "total" time that counts down (which includes our break times).
How much time in total is break time? 60 minutes?
What's the best way of using the break time?
For example, I heard most ppl do 2 section, 10 min break, 2 section, 10 min break, 2 section, 10 min break then last section (instead of break after every section).
Click to expand...
total break time is 60 mins which is 45 mins of breaks and 15 mins of tutorial/intro. Most people don't have any issues with having enough break time and even have a substantial amount left over after the test. Use your break time however you want but I would recommend taking about a minute or two to stretch a bit between sections .
 
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lampshade4u said:
total break time is 60 mins which is 45 mins of breaks and 15 mins of tutorial/intro. Most people don't have any issues with having enough break time and even have a substantial amount left over after the test. Use your break time however you want but I would recommend taking about a minute or two to stretch a bit between sections .
Click to expand...

if I were to just pass through tutorial, would that 15 min add to my break time?
 
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i know this is a stretch but anyone selling their uworld with a reset? or possibly wanna give it away due to the kindness in their heart? exam in a week : S
 
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Anyone who wrote step 1 exam on 7/31 who has received his/her score or waiting for the score for tomorrow?? Haven't received mine yet
 
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Posting because this thread really helped keep me motivated. Thanks to everyone for contributing!

Recently received my score. Time from test to results was exactly 3 weeks.
NBME 16 (4 weeks out) - 244
NBME 17 (3 weeks out) - 240
NBME 19 (2 weeks out) - 244
Practice test at Prometric site (1 week out) - 89% correct
UWorld correct first (and only) pass - 78%
Step 1 - 255

I studied hard MS2, stuck to my UFAP study schedule, and worked my butt off during my 3 weeks of dedicated. At the time the lack of progress in my NBME scores freaked me out. Ultimately shocked and ecstatic by how I did, although I'm pretty certain the last 10 points were more luck than anything. Best advice I can give is to 1)do A LOT of timed practice Qs, 2)make a comprehensive study schedule and stick to it, and 3)take a practice test at your Prometric site. It really helped calm my nerves on test day. Also, don't underestimate the mental game. I had a couple reeeally hard sections on step that would have thrown me off if I hadn't made an effort throughout dedicated to practice clearing my head and moving on after a question block.

Best of luck to you all!
 
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people say that step 1 is very similar to uworld but in what way is it similar? can those who took the exam explain? :S
 
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This is horribly overdue but I finally carved out a few minutes to write about how I took my score from 207 to 243 in 17 days of overhauled studying.

I started the step studying process as anyone would: UFAP. I read a couple of chapters a day while breaking them up with 50 or so UWorld questions. I made sure to eat well and exercise, and make time for sanity-saving activities such as Netflix. Unfortunately my scores weren't budging in the few weeks I kept at this routine (I only stared studying in the dedicated period, 5 weeks total); they were hovering in the devastating 200-210s. I've been an honor student in the pre-clinical years and this level of soft assed-ness was unacceptable. I decided to tighten up and squeeze myself dry in the last 17 days before the test:

1. Goodbye exercise, Netflix, or even decent diet. I got up, sat down, and didn't budge until nightfall. I bought a lot of pre-made food to eat on my measly 30 minute breakfast/lunch/dinner break.
2. I read 100-120 pages of FA per day. Forget annotations. Hell, forget comprehending 100% of the material in the first pass. I read for exposure. My plan was to lay eyes on the information as much as possible. If there were any concepts I felt weak on, I placed a sticky note on those pages and reviewed them extra when I had time.
3. I did 150-200 UW questions per day. Forget mining the explanations for every last detail. I gleaned the main point of each question and moved on.
4. 30 pages of Pathoma, daily. Same deal as FA: read for exposure, sticky any part that's immediately unclear
5. Rinse, repeat, no breaks. After something like 5-6 passes through FA, 3 passes through Pathoma, and 1 pass (plus some incorrects) through UW in 17 days I was ready to get this bull**** over with.

What I described is pure hell. It's a soul crushing, humanity stripping endeavor. Honestly, I don't think I've recovered from this assault. Try at your own risk but do know it WILL yield results.

Pro tip: do get enough sleep. Nothing serves your better.
 
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Waterlover said:
I would keep your current test date. Also IMO the test is a harder version of U-World.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.
Worked on some weak areas and had better success with NBME 19 today. Took it after UWSA2 to simulate a full length.
- UWSA2 (~83%) 254
- NBME19 (~92%) and 244
Hopefully test day is more like today.
 
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doc-Oc said:
i know this is a stretch but anyone selling their uworld with a reset? or possibly wanna give it away due to the kindness in their heart? exam in a week : S
Click to expand...
I still have my uworld with a reset left. Already took my exam. PM me if you still need it
 
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